Golfers are familiar with the standard, stick type wooden golf tee which has a round shaft having a pointed lower end for penetrating turf and a broadened upper end with a concave surface for supporting a golf ball before the ball is struck with a suitable club. These tees have a number of disadvantages. First, they are generally considered to be disposable. Second, they tend easily to be broken when the ball is struck. Third, given their small size and shape, they may, if dislodged during striking of the ball, be difficult to find once the shot has been made. Fourth, they may not sit well on soggy ground, and may be difficult to drive into hard dry ground. Fifth, they may not sit at a consistent height. Sixth, they do not provide a significant surface area suitable for the display of advertising or promotional material.
Generally tubular golf tees are also known. For example, one known type employs a circular base and an upright tubular column having a cut end. This kind of tee is most commonly seen at driving ranges, and is used in conjunction with a rubber mat. The mat has a hole. The tubular shaft protrudes upwardly through the mat. These tees lack means for penetrating a surface. They are not known generally for use during a round of golf.
U.K. Patent Application GB 2 212 405 of Andiel, published Jul. 26, 1989 shows several variations of hollow, plastic golf tees that are of generally round cross-section. Each has a number of pointed tips around its periphery. The pointed tips at one end serve to rest on the ground, the pointed tips at the other end serve to support a golf ball before it is struck. Andiel also discloses making a large number of these tees by cutting them from adjacent sections of plastic tube stock, such as shown in Figures 8 and 9.
Another type of tubular tee, made of paper, and having serrated, or castellated ends, is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,614,499 issued Jan. 18, 1927 to Stirton. Paper may not be a satisfactorily durable material, particularly after several hits from a golf club, or if used in damp conditions. A subsequent style of stacking tubular tee, with or without serrated ends, is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,738,596 which issued Dec. 10, 1929 to McLeod. The angles of the serrations at opposite ends are different, so that the height achieved by stacking two of these tees together will vary depending on which ends of the tees are stacked together. In that patent, the inventor states that his tees are preferably formed from clays or earths such as to be disintegrable when struck by a golf club in play. This preference would not seem to encourage long life.
Since a golfer may desire tees of different heights, it is nonetheless advantageous for the tees to be capable of being stacked. In this regard, a tee in which the walls are made of excessively thin or weak materials may not be suitable for stacking or may require more care in stacking than a thicker walled tee or a tee made of more robust material. This is particularly so given the often highly sociable nature of golfing. For example, participants may take refreshments during a round of golf that may not improve the fine motor skills of the hand. Under such convivial circumstances golfers may prefer a tee with modestly forgiving self-aligning or self centering properties.
Furthermore, golfing is not infrequently an activity undertaken by business, educational or charitable entities, who may organise friendly tournaments, or golf days, for their customers, suppliers, clients, employees, or business and professional associates. In such circumstances the sponsor may wish to provide a remembrance of the event to the participants, whether emblazoned with its own indicia, or, more flatteringly, with those of the customer or group for whom this friendly entertainment is provided. It would be best for indicia on the tee to be in a form that is large enough to be easily discerned, and to be oriented in a manner for easy viewing when the tee is in use--observers should not have to crane their necks at an angle. It would therefore be advantageous for the tee to have a display surface of adequate size, oriented to lie horizontally during normal use. Such a display, if provided in satisfactorily remarkable size and adequately contrasting colour may also serve the functional purpose of aiding in the location of the tee when inadvertently struck by a club, more easily, perhaps, than a monochromatic tee. The inventor is unaware of any re-useable plastic tee that has been designed with the explicit purpose in mind of providing an adequate, outwardly facing surface for promotional messages or logos.
It would be advantageous to have a hollow type tee that is intended for prolonged, if not indefinite, use. It would also be advantageous to have a hollow tee that may be placed on dry hard ground, or be pushed into soft turf, and it would be advantageous for that tee to be made from a material that will resist damage even under repeated use. It would be advantageous to have a golf tee that is at least modestly self-aligning, or self-centering to facilitate stacking thereof with other tees, should a golfer wish. It would be advantageous to have a hollow tee of a robust medial section for holding between the fingers. Furthermore, it would be advantageous for that tee to have a large enough size to facilitate easy sighting after the shot has been taken, and also, of having a large enough hollow to admit the entry of the grip end of a golf club such that the tee may be picked up without the golfer having a need to bend over. It would also be advantageous for the tee to have, at its ball supporting end, ball supports of a sufficient radius not to present a sharply pointed tip.